Experience Georgian life at first hand

Costumed servants at work in the kitchen at Wordsworth House

The furniture is brightly polished, the copper pots are gleaming, the fire is crackling in the kitchen grate, and William Wordsworth’s childhood home is ready to receive visitors over the Easter holidays.

The dining table is set with real food, and the room guides and costumed servants are in position to share their stories about the Wordsworths – and some of the house’s other colourful residents.

During the school holidays, the servants will be working in the house every day and keen to gossip about life with the family. They will be giving special 10-minute talks or telling spooky stories every day at 11.30am and 2.30pm.

On Mondays, children – and grown-ups – can roll up their sleeves in the kitchen and have a go at making a traditional Cumbrian recipe. Just drop in any time between 11.30am and 3.30pm.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, visitors can get cosy by the kitchen fire as the servants tell some of the ghostly tales William and Dorothy Wordsworth might have enjoyed. Storytelling sessions are at 11.30am and 2.30pm, and are suitable for age seven and above.

There’s a chance to make your mark as a Georgian on Wednesdays. Drop in between 11.30am and 3.30pm to learn about 18th-century letter writing, pen a missive or poem and seal it the old-fashioned way.

On Good Friday and over the rest of Easter weekend, we’re running special Cadbury Easter egg trails in the garden, with a prize of a Cadbury chocolate Egghead for every child. Trails cost £1.50.

On all Saturdays and Sundays in the holidays, families can borrow Explorer Bags full of trails, tools and toys to help them delve into the nooks and crannies of the house and garden.

Going round the house, look out for some unique artworks made from found objects by the staff, who’ve been accessing their inner ‘wild child’.

Whatever day you visit, reproduction toys and dressing up clothes – in all sizes – are waiting in the children’s bedroom. The quills and ink are ready in the clerk’s office, while in the kitchen, there's an 18th-century recipe to taste. And, if you have a musical bent, feel free to pick out a tune on the harpsichord.